Ceuta leader says 100 died as 78,000 migrants crossed from Morocco

About 100 people died and roughly 78,000 migrants crossed from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in a matter of hours late last month, the territory's mayor-president, Juan Jesús Vivas, told the European Parliament on Thursday. Vivas addressed an extraordinary meeting of the parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, where he expressed what he called his profound sorrow over the deaths and described them as an irreparable tragedy. Between 3,000 and 5,000 migrants remain in Ceuta, he said. The crossings took place on July 30 and 31, according to accounts given to lawmakers, and were among the largest single movements into European Union territory in recent years, Al Jazeera reported.

It is not a migratory crisis, but an episode in which the integrity of the city, of Spain, and of Europe has been called into question.

Vivas said the return of nearly 75,000 migrants to Morocco had considerably alleviated the situation, but that Ceuta had not returned to normal. A humanitarian emergency persisted, he told the committee, alongside disturbances to public order in the territory. He said local officials had warned the national government in Madrid about rising crossing numbers before the surge, but that those warnings were not acted on. Vivas also said Moroccan authorities had refused to engage with Ceuta throughout the crisis. On Monday, Morocco rejected suggestions that it was responsible for the surge. He called for stronger security and greater support from EU agencies.

What Vivas told lawmakers

Vivas characterised the events as more than a migration episode, calling them an attack and a violation of territorial integrity, language that Spain's national government has also used. He described the crossings as an invasion and said the number of people who entered was roughly equal to the enclave's entire population of more than 80,000. He criticised the allocation of national resources, saying the absence of a firm count of those still present reflected how little help Ceuta had received. Security forces, he said, had still not been deployed in the city with the required intensity. The reception centres, local authorities have said, had collapsed under the pressure.

The migrants entered mostly on foot and by sea, with many swimming from the Moroccan side around the Tarajal and Benzú breakwaters, according to an account compiled by Wikipedia. Spain's Guardia Civil documented scenes of people running and cheering as they crossed on foot, overwhelming police along the coastline, Fox News reported. Some migrants drowned and others were crushed while trying to climb the breakwater and the border fence, according to the French broadcaster France 24. Spanish authorities put the number who swam or crossed on foot last Thursday and Friday at about 72,000, a figure lower than the estimate Vivas gave to parliament. Most of those who crossed were young men, according to Wikipedia's summary.

How the crossing unfolded

By August 3, Spanish government officials said about 70,000 people had voluntarily returned to Morocco, according to Wikipedia's account of the incident. Spain installed a 500-metre floating barrier off its border with Morocco after the rush, and the government said crossings had stopped overnight once the barrier was in place, France 24 reported. Spain confirmed that people who entered Ceuta irregularly could not travel onward to mainland Spain or elsewhere in the Schengen passport-free zone. The foreign ministry said travellers leaving Ceuta by sea or air undergo police identity checks, a second layer of control after the land border with Morocco. As of Friday evening, more than 48,000 had already returned, The Hill reported.

We faced a humanitarian emergency of enormous proportions, compounded by disturbances to public order and a serious risk to public safety.

Ceuta's authorities reported at least 88 confirmed deaths by August 3, in addition to bodies recovered by Moroccan authorities in Moroccan waters, according to Euronews. The Spanish government's death toll estimate reached about 99 by early August, CBC reported, close to the figure of about 100 that Vivas gave to parliament on Thursday. Diving teams from the Civil Guard, the maritime rescue service Salvamento Marítimo and emergency services continued search operations near the breakwaters, according to Wikipedia's account. Numerous survivors were treated for injuries and prolonged immersion in the water. Spain's Civil Guard said it was opening an office for missing persons at the customs facility, CBC reported.

The minors who remain

Among those still in Ceuta are hundreds of unaccompanied minors who cannot be summarily deported. Local authorities counted 862 minors by August 3, and said the figure could approach 1,000, with some still on the streets and unaccounted for, Euronews reported. By August 5, the local government put the number of unaccompanied minors at roughly 1,100, according to US News. Vivas said it was basically impossible to return minors who had crossed because doing so required their consent. Many are lodged in makeshift accommodation in warehouses or sleeping on the streets, the local government said, as reception centres are full. City services increased support, providing accommodation and food for those still present, Euronews reported.

Ceuta is seeking to transfer the minors to mainland Spain under a 2025 reform to Spanish immigration law, US News reported. The reform, passed after a migration surge overwhelmed reception centres in the Canary Islands, requires overstretched territories to redistribute unaccompanied minors within 15 days of a case file being completed. Since the reform, 719 minors have been transferred from the Canary Islands to the mainland, according to government data released in April 2026, and more than 400 who arrived in Ceuta have already been relocated. Spain's government earmarked 25 million euros, about 29 million dollars, to assist the minors, CBC reported.

Divisions across Europe

The crisis prompted several European governments to reintroduce border controls. Italy imposed checks on its air and sea borders with Spain on July 31 and suspended Spain's passport-free Schengen rights for the month of August, affecting flights and maritime transport, according to The Hill. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the decision an extraordinary measure taken to safeguard national security. France reimposed checks at its border crossings with Spain the same day, and Finland began preparing controls along its Schengen borders, according to Wikipedia's account. Within days, 22 EU member states signed a joint letter aligning with Italy's position and criticising Spain's border management.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the situation in Ceuta unacceptable and appointed two commissioners to oversee the response, The Hill reported. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez criticised Italy's suspension of Schengen arrangements, writing to EU leaders that the bloc could not afford what he called a selfish, polarising and unlawful reaction. The EU migration commissioner, Magnus Brunner, told the same parliamentary hearing that Spain had assured Brussels the crisis would not affect Schengen, according to Al Jazeera. Brunner said the episode had exposed how heavily Europe's border security depends on the cooperation of a single neighbouring country.

Tens of thousands of migrants crossed after Spain's Supreme Court ruled that migrants stopped at sea while trying to reach Ceuta or Melilla could not be returned to Morocco, The Hill reported. Spain's Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, blamed people-smuggling networks for exploiting vulnerable migrants, according to France 24. The Spanish government has taken a comparatively open stance on migration, including a programme to grant residency to more than half a million undocumented people. It rejected suggestions that the scheme encouraged the rush, noting that applicants must prove they lived in Spain before January 1, 2026, and had five continuous months of residence when applying.

Vivas told lawmakers that new calls for mass crossings were circulating on social media, citing Moroccan media reports. The redistribution of minors could deepen divisions within Spain, where the Popular Party and the far-right Vox jointly govern four regions and are contesting national power at next year's election, The National reported. Any relocation to regions run by those parties threatens to strain their alliance, the outlet said. The European Commission commended Spain's swift response, which included deploying armed forces to Ceuta and Melilla, according to Yahoo News. Vivas said security forces had still not arrived in sufficient numbers, and that the enclave had not yet returned to normal.